Bulk feed mixers are generally used to cut and mix fibrous bulk feed material placed into a mixing chamber of the mixer. The mixing chamber generally comprises an auger for cutting the fibrous material and mixing the bulk material in preparation for extraction from the mixing chamber and consumption by livestock. Proper cutting of the fibrous material is an important feature of the auger in order to maintain the nutrition value, such as the effective fibre, of the fibrous feed material and promote healthy livestock.
Fibrous feed material should ideally be cleanly cut during mixing in order to maintain the effective fibre of the feed. Crushing or tearing of the fibrous feed damages the feed and generally reduces the nutritional value, such as the effective fibre, of the feed produced.
Various bulk feed mixers employ knives on the auger to cut the fibrous material. One such auger employs a serrated knife placed generally at the corners of a square auger. However, the serrated knife has a tendency to tear the fibrous material resulting in a poor cut of the fibrous material and thereby reducing the nutritional value of the feed. This setup is especially poor at cleanly cutting fibrous material in a mini-mixer where there is a generally tendency for the bulk feed material to densely pack itself in the mixing chamber due to the proximity of the walls of the mixing chamber with the flighting of the auger.
A need therefore exists for an auger capable of more cleanly cutting fibrous material and maintaining the nutritional value of the fibrous feed or at least mitigating the reduction of the nutritional value during mixing and cutting of the feed.